Offer Something That Won't Go Away
by pandorabox82
Summary: When Erin Strauss shows up on her doorstep one evening, looking for sanctuary, Penelope doesn't have it in her heart to ask her to leave. As they grow closer to each other, will the love of a friend deepen into something much sweeter?
1. Chapter 1

A sharp knocking on Penelope's door startled her out of her computer game, and she paused it, listening to see if it was just a fluke, or if someone was really there. Seconds later, that sharp knocking came once more, and she set aside her controller as she stood up from the couch and made her way over to the door.

Peeking out through the peephole, she frowned a little. All she could see was a bent head, blonde hair fanning out a little. She knew it wasn't JJ, she hadn't ever had hair that short, and none of her other friends were blonde at the moment. She wasn't going to open the door, since she was still so leery of who could be lurking in darkened halls. And then, the head lifted and she was looking into the eyes of a ghost.

A surprised gasp tore its way out of her lungs, and she unlocked the doors with suddenly shaky fingers. It took too long for her to wrench the door open, but the violence of the motion did not seem to be lost on the woman standing there. "Penelope," she whimpered, her eyes filled with tears.

"Come inside," she replied, reaching out to touch Erin's arm. It was still a shock to her system when she encountered solid flesh instead of passing on through, disrupting the illusion. "You're alive."

"I am."

Those two words were filled with a world of emotion, and before she knew what she was doing, Penelope was enfolding her in a tender, loving, embrace. This seemed to be the catalyst that she needed to let her tears flow, and soon her shoulder was soaked. Somehow, she managed to get them over to the couch, not bothering to flip the deadbolt on the door. "Why are you here?"

The words came out a little more cavalier than she had intended, and Erin stiffened a little in her arms. "Yours was the first place that I could think of. David tossed me out of his life, out of his house, earlier today. I suppose that I should have let someone know that I had gone into hiding, but there wasn't time, and then after I had gotten in contact with my children, my handler suggested that perhaps I take my personal safety a little more seriously than I was, and I wasn't allowed any more contact with the outside world."

As the words poured out of Erin's mouth, Penelope found herself crying, and she began to rub the woman's back in soft circles, trying to soothe her. "Did Rossi say anything to you?"

Erin shook her head before burying her head in the crook of Penelope's neck. "He just looked at me as if I was nothing. As if I had betrayed him by not telling him anything. I have nowhere to go, now. I have nothing." Her lips brushed against her neck as she spoke, and Penelope shuddered a little at how bleak she sounded.

"Stay with me, then." The words rolled off her lips so easily, and Erin sighed deeply as she snuggled in close. "I won't turn you away."

"Thank you," she whispered, not letting go of her as they lapsed into silence. Soon, though, she felt Erin's body grow heavy in her arms and knew that the woman had fallen asleep on her. Carefully, Penelope maneuvered her so that she was stretched out on the couch, slipping off the older woman's shoes before dropping a light blanket over her. She had to stop herself from bending down and placing a tender kiss on Erin's forehead, though. There were some things that she knew just weren't seemly.

Sighing deeply, she picked up her cellphone and made her way to the bathroom, intent on calling Rossi and reaming him out. Before she could even look up his number, however, he was calling her, and she answered shortly. "Hello."

"I take it she's already made it over to your place, then, Kitten. Have you offered her sanctuary?"

His voice sounded tired, and tried not to smile bitterly at the thought that he might be regretting acting so hastily. "I have. I'll be out of the office tomorrow, taking care of her, since she has nothing left in her life. Why would you do this to her?"

"She couldn't bother to tell me she was alive, and I moved on."

"Erin still loves you." She didn't know why she told him that, she wasn't certain if it were true or not. But she wanted to needle him a little, to not let him off the hook for abandoning his beloved so easily.

"I don't love her any longer." The words were short and sharp and full of bitter regret, and she knew that he was lying. She couldn't push him, though, and so she nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Will, will you please take good care of her?"

"Of course. One of us, at least, still loves her." Without saying goodbye, she hung up on him and promptly turned her phone off. She knew that he could call her on one of her other phones, but she also hoped that he would take the hint and leave them alone. Letting out a deep sigh, she left the bathroom and rejoined Erin. The woman was still asleep, her left arm hanging off the couch.

Going to her side, Penelope sat down on the floor and picked up her hand, intent on just settling it on her chest while she still slept, until her fingers brushed against the familiar feel of scar tissue. Looking down at Erin's wrist, she saw the pale white outline of an infinity symbol. "He marked you?" she murmured, and without thinking, she brought the wrist to her lips and kissed the scar.

Erin frowned in her sleep and turned on her side, pulling her arm along with. The blanket slipped onto the floor, and Penelope hurriedly covered her back up, wanting the woman to be comfortable, even in sleep. The older woman snuggled down into the couch, and a sad smile spread across Penelope's face as she smoothed hair back from her face.

"What am I going to do with you, Erin Strauss? I have no idea how to fix this, how to make everything right. I know that you still love Rossi, that you're heartbroken, and I don't want you to be hurt by him. Not when I love you."

The older woman groaned a little in her sleep, her arm flopping out once more, and Penelope clasped it, threading their fingers together as she continued to watch her own, real life, phoenix sleep her sorrows away.


	2. Chapter 2

Penelope must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing she knew, her eyes were blinking open to see Erin watching her from her position on the couch. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked through a yawn.

"I'm not really sure. I just woke up about five minutes ago myself." Erin's eyes were red rimmed, and Penelope reached up to grab for her hand, threading their fingers together. "I just can't seem to find my footing. Are you certain that you want to keep me here?"

"I am." Giving her a gentle tug, Penelope pulled her down onto the floor, wanting to have her closer to side. "Do you have anything left?"

Again, the words came out a little more harshly than she had intended, and Erin stiffened a little before she gave a sharp nod. "Thankfully, once Alan knew that I was coming back from the dead eventually, he put all of my clothes and things in storage. I'll have to contact him to figure out where that is exactly, and to have my bank accounts reactivated. There's so much more to returning to life than I had ever thought."

By the end of her speech, her voice had dropped to a whisper, and Penelope untangled their hands so that she could run her fingers through Erin's hair, seeking to comfort her. "Well, at least you don't have to start completely over, Erin."

Erin sighed a little before nodding. "There is that. And I do have a suitcase of clothes. I left it in my car, since I wasn't certain that you would let me in. Thank you." Penelope was surprised when Erin turned her head and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "You didn't have to do this for me."

"Yeah, I did. You deserve a safe harbor, Erin. And you are always welcome here." She could tell the exact moment that Erin started to cry once more, as her shoulders almost imperceptibly shook. "Now, it looks to be about supper time. Do you want to have Chinese or pizza delivered?"

"Pizza sounds delicious. But I don't know if you'll like what I like on it. I prefer to have a lot of cheese and Canadian bacon."

Penelope giggled lightly as she shook her head. "You are so right, I only like half of that equation. But as long as you don't mind only having meat on half, I think we can do that."

"Oh, that's right, you're a vegetarian. Are you sure you won't mind having meat on it? I can forgo that one topping for one night."

Erin's voice had become high and tight as she spoke, and Penelope wondered if she was trying to be accommodating of her feelings, as if she didn't really trust her when she said she was safe here. Without moving to look at the woman, Penelope cupped her face, letting her thumb run along the apple of her cheek. "Please, close your eyes and listen, really listen, to me, Erin." She waited a beat and felt the woman's long lashes brush against the top of her thumb. "If I didn't want you here, I would have refused to open that door. I want you here, and I want you to be happy. And a simple little pizza won't kill me, I promise you. Believe me, all right?"

Erin's answer was a little time in coming as their breathing began to sync up. "All right. It's just that my heart is a little battered tonight."

The low murmuring hurt Penelope's heart, and she slung her arm around Erin's shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug. "And I will hold it tenderly, I promise you that." The older woman gave a tiny nod before turning her face into the crook of Penelope's neck as she held onto her tightly. After a minute had passed, Penelope gently released Erin and pulled out her phone, calling the pizza place just down the street, and putting their order in. "So, we have about thirty minutes until they arrive. What would you like to do until then?"

Erin pulled her legs up against her chest and rested her chin on them. "Would you tell me about what I missed while I was away?"

"I can do that, yes. So, I don't know if it made the news where you were staying, but we caught a really bad case in Texas. Reid and Derek got shot, and it looked like we were going to lose Reid there, for a moment. But it turned out that Alex was the one who couldn't handle being on the team any longer. She just walked away."

"What?"

"Yeah. She went to join James in Boston. I can't say that I blame her, what with seeing Reid take the bullet that was meant for her and all, but…I miss her, and she's only been gone a few days." She took a deep breath. "And, I sort of shot someone."

"What? I thought that you didn't believe in guns?"

Erin reached out and gently wrapped her hand around Penelope's shoulder, squeezing slightly. Turning her face so that she could look at Erin, she gave a small shrug. "It was either shoot the bastard or see Reid die. I didn't hesitate, Erin. But it felt weird."

"I can only imagine, darling." It seemed like the endearment had just slipped from her tongue without her noticing it, and Penelope smiled as she scooted closer to Erin. They rested their heads together as they once more started to breathe in sync. It seemed like a certain sense of peace had settled over their hearts, and Penelope was glad for the quiet. Time seemed to lose all meaning as they just sat together.

Finally, though, the doorbell rang and Penelope reluctantly stood up, fishing her billfold out of her purse as she made her way to the door. "Hello, is this Penelope Garcia's apartment?" the young man asked, holding onto the pizza box with both hands.

"Yeah, how much do I owe you again?" she asked as she began to rifle through her bills.

"Twenty eight dollars, sixty nine cents," he replied, pulling out a pouch to make change. She waved that away as she pulled out two twenties. "That's a little…"

"It's just right, okay?"

He didn't have to be told twice as he pocketed the bills and handed over the pizza. Penelope shut the door and found Erin had made herself comfortable at the kitchen table, plates and glasses set out before her and the spot next to her. "I had to make myself useful," she said with a blush as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

"There's no need to explain yourself, I'm just glad that you're making yourself at home." Reaching out, she deliberately untucked the hank of hair and tugged at it, hoping that Erin would smile. Instead, the woman met her eye, arched an eyebrow, and retucked it in. "I like it better the other way."

"It's distracting when it's in my face, and I'm trying to let it grow out. Please, if I'm going to be here, I would like you to respect my wishes."

Penelope nodded as she set the pizza down on the table. "Here, I think I have the perfect solution. Just give me one moment." Erin nodded absently, and Penelope scurried off to the bedroom, fishing out her snail hairclips. "Here," she murmured as she reached out once more, clipping the offending piece of hair back from Erin's face.

"Thanks." Penelope smiled widely and tried not to stiffen in shock when Erin reached up and caressed her cheek softly. "Can I put the other one in?" She nodded dumbly, and held the clip out to her. Erin picked it up and instead of putting it in her own hair, she clipped a piece of Penelope's hair back. "Now we match."

"We do." Sitting down next to Erin, she opened the box and took out a piece of the cheese half. "I think I'm going to like having you around, Erin." The older woman just smiled at her a little before grabbing out her own piece, nibbling at it shyly as she kept her eyes on Penelope.


End file.
